Catherine of Austria, Queen of Portugal

Catherine of Austria (Portuguese: Catarina; 14 January 1507 – 12 February 1578) was Queen of Portugal as wife of King John III, and regent during the minority of her grandson, King Sebastian, from 1557 until 1562.

"Catherine of Spain" redirects here. For the Duchess of Savoy, see Catalina Micaela of Spain.

Catherine
Portrait by Anthonis Mor, 1552
Queen consort of Portugal
Reign	10 February 1525 – 11 June 1557
Queen regent of Portugal
Regency	11 June 1557 – 12 February 1558
Monarch	Sebastian
Born	14 January 1507 Torquemada, Crown of Castile
Died	12 February 1578 (aged 71) Ribeira Palace, Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Burial	Jerónimos Monastery
Spouse	John III of Portugal ​ ​ (m. 1525; died 1557)​
Issue Detail	Afonso, Prince of Portugal Maria Manuela, Princess of Asturias Manuel, Prince of Portugal Philip, Prince of Portugal João Manuel, Prince of Portugal
House	Habsburg
Father	Philip the Handsome
Mother	Joanna I of Castile
Signature

Early life

Altarpiece by Cristóvão Lopes in the Convent of Madre de Deus in Lisbon depicting Catherine of Austria with her namesake, St. Catherine of Alexandria. Currently on display in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon.

An Infanta of Castile and Archduchess of Austria, Catherine was the posthumous daughter of King Philip I and Queen Joanna of Castile.^[1] Catherine was born in Torquemada and named in honor of her maternal aunt, Catherine of Aragon. She was kept by her mentally-unstable mother's side.

All of her five older siblings, except Ferdinand, were born in the Habsburg Netherlands and had been put into the care of their aunt Margaret of Austria, but Joanna kept hold of young Catherine. Catherine actually stayed with her mother during imprisonment at Tordesillas during her grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon's time as regent and her elder brother Charles as co-king. When the time came for her to marry, Catherine was released from the custody that her mother was to endure until her death.

Queen

On 10 February 1525, at the age of 18, Catherine married her first cousin, King John III of Portugal, she was married off to him by her mother Joanna I of Castile. They had nine children, but only two survived early childhood.

Catherine was very concerned about the education of her family, accumulating a substantial library and establishing a kind of salon in the court.^[2] She brought a number of women scholars into her household, including the humanists Joana Vaz and Públia Hortênsia de Castro, and the poet Luisa Sigea de Velasco.^[2][3] Vaz was responsible for tutoring Catherine's daughter, Princess Maria, as well as Catherine's niece, also called Maria, and a scholar in her own right.^[2][4]

After the death of her husband in 1557, she was challenged by her daughter-in-law and niece Joanna of Austria, over the role of regent for her grandchild, the infant King Sebastian. Mediation by Charles V resolved the issue in favor of his sister Catherine over his daughter Joan, who was needed in Spain in the absence of Philip II.

She then served as the regent of Portugal from 1557 until 1562. In 1562, she turned over the regency to Henry of Portugal.

Collector

Catherine had one of the earliest and finest Chinese porcelain collections in Europe due to her position as Queen of Portugal. "She acquired quantities of porcelain and exotica from Asia, which arrived regularly in Lisbon for the decoration of the Lisbon royal palace as well as for her personal use, and which served as emblems of her power. Her collection became the first kunstkammer on the Iberian Peninsula."^[5] She was following a tradition established earlier by the Portuguese King Manuel I of Portugal who had purchased porcelain for his wife, Maria of Castile (1482–1517), who was Catherine's aunt. Between 1511 and 1514, the Treasurer of the Spices in Lisbon "registered a total of 692 pieces of porcelain and other exotic goods" bought on his behalf for Maria of Castile, who was then King Manuel's second wife.^[6] Amongst other "exotica" in Catherine's collection were fossilized sharks' teeth, a snake's head encased in gold, heart-shaped jasper stones to stop bleeding, a coral branch used as a protector against evil spirits, bezoar stones, a unicorn's horn (a narwhal tusk) and piles of loose gems and stones such as rubies, emeralds, and diamonds.^[7]

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
With John III, King of Portugal (married 10 February 1525)
Prince Afonso	24 February 1526	12 April 1526	Prince of Portugal (1526).
Princess Maria Manuela	15 October 1527	12 July 1545	Princess of Portugal (1527–1531). First wife of King Philip II of Spain. She had one child, Don Carlos, and died four days after his birth.
Infanta Isabel	28 April 1529	22 May 1530
Infanta Beatriz	15 February 1530	16 March 1530
Prince Manuel	1 November 1531	14 April 1537	Prince of Portugal (1531–1537). Declared heir in 1531.
Prince Philip	25 March 1533	29 April 1539	Prince of Portugal (1537–1539). Declared heir in 1537.
Infante Denis	6 April 1535	1 January 1537
Prince João Manuel	3 June 1537	2 January 1554	Prince of Portugal (1539–1554). Declared heir in 1539. Married Joanna of Spain. Their son Sebastian became king.
Infante Antonio	9 March 1539	20 January 1540

Catherine has no descendants today, as both her grandchildren died childless. Her line of descent became extinct within six months of her death, as the only descendant of hers that survived her, King Sebastian of Portugal, died in August 1578.

In popular culture

Catherine of Austria figures in José Saramago's 2008 novel The Elephant's Journey. She also figures in Laurent Binet's 2019 novel Civilizations.

She was also featured in Kei Ohkubo's manga Arte, under the alias Irene at first; later, she revealed herself as Catalina, daughter to Juana of Castile. The timing was unspecified, but this fictitious arrival of Catalina at Florence could be some time between her release from custody and before her marriage; during her inner monologue, her brother, who had ordered a cardinal that was accommodating Catalina's trip to watch over her movements, was shown wearing a crown.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Catherine of Austria

8. Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor[8] 4. Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor[9] 9. Eleanor of Portugal[8] 2. Philip I of Castile 10. Charles I, Duke of Burgundy[10] 5. Mary, Duchess of Burgundy[9] 11. Isabella of Bourbon[10] 1. Catherine of Austria 12. John II of Aragon[11] 6. Ferdinand II of Aragon[12] 13. Juana Enriquez[11] 3. Joanna I of Castile 14. John II of Castile[13] 7. Isabella I of Castile[12] 15. Isabella of Portugal[13]

Sources

1. Jordan, Annemarie (1994). The Development of Catherine of Austria's Collection in the Queen's Household: Its Character and Cost. Providence, R. I.: Brown University. p. 700.
2. Walsby, Malcolm; Constantinidou, Natasha (2013). Documenting the Early Modern Book World: Inventories and Catalogues in Manuscript and Print. Brill. pp. 101–103. ISBN 9789004258907.
3. Frade, Sofia (2016). "Hic sita Sigea est: satis hoc: Luisa Sigea and the Role of D. Maria, Infanta of Portugal, in Female Scholarship". In Wyles, Rosie; Hall, Edith (eds.). Women Classical Scholars: Unsealing the Fountain from the Renaissance to Jacqueline de Romilly. Oxford University Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 9780191038297.
4. Boxer, Charles Ralph (1981). João de Barros: Portuguese Humanist and Historian of Asia. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 17–18.
5. Teresa Canepa, "The Iberian royal courts of Lisbon and Madrid, and their role in spreading a taste for Chinese porcelain in 16th century Europe" in Chinese and Japanese Porcelain for the Dutch Golden Age, Jan van Campen and Titus Eliens, ads. Amsterdam: Wanders Uitgevers,, n.d., p. 18
6. Teresa Canepa, "The Iberian royal courts of Lisbon and Madrid, and their role in spreading a taste for Chinese porcelain in 16th-century Europe", Ibid, p. 17
7. Annemarie Jordan Gshwend, "In the Tradition of Princely Collections: Curiosities and Exotica in the Kunstkammer of Catherine of Austria," in Bulletin of the Society for Renaissance Studies, Volume XIII, Number 1 (October 1995), p. 142
8. Holland, Arthur William (1911). "Maximilian I. (emperor)" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
9. Wurzbach, Constantin von, ed. (1861). "Habsburg, Philipp I. der Schöne von Oesterreich" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). Vol. 7. p. 112 – via Wikisource.
10. Poupardin, René (1911). "Charles, called The Bold, duke of Burgundy" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
11. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ferdinand V. of Castile and Leon and II. of Aragon" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
12. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Joanna" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
13. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Isabella of Castile" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Preceded by Eleanor of Austria	Queen consort of Portugal 10 February 1525 – 11 June 1557	Succeeded by Anna of Austria
Preceded by Infante Peter in 1448	Regent of Portugal and the Algarves 11 June 1557 – 23 December 1562	Succeeded by Infante Henry